The present disclosure relates generally to devices that launch or throw sports balls. More particularly, the current disclosure relates to an automatic game ball feeder for delivering balls to a game ball throwing machine.
There are machines used in numerous sports. These range from equipment to maintain the surface on which the sport is played and includes machines that assist during the playing of a sport. One example of machines aiding in the playing and/or participation of a sport includes the use of game ball throwing machines. These machines are used to throw or launch the ball used in a particular sport.
For example, in a vast number of sports, such as football, tennis, soccer, cricket, basketball, lacrosse, baseball, and softball, machines are used to launch or throw a ball in the air to facilitate the movement of that ball as it would naturally occur during the playing of that sport. For example, in tennis, tennis ball machines are used to send balls to players during practice so they can work on their game techniques. In American football, football throwing machines are used to simulate either a quarterback's throw to allow receivers to practice catching the ball. This general concept of using machines to simulate the movement of a ball permeates most sports.
One sport in particular, diamond sports such as baseball and softball, have a type of machine generally referred to as a pitching machine. This pitching machine is a game ball throwing machine that is used to simulate the throw of a ball by a pitcher. These machines are typically used in batting practice but can also be used to simulate a pitched ball for a catcher or a hit ball from a batter to assist players in the field to work on various fundamentals. In fact, in some instances, pitching machines are sanctioned for game use and are even required by youth level diamond sports leagues to be used as a substitute for a live pitcher in the actual competitions.
Typically, these pitching machines have conventionally required a person, such as another player or coach, to stand beside the machine and manually feed balls into the machine one at a time. This practice has evolved to the implementation of automatic ball feeders. Most of these conventional automatic ball feeders consist of one of two forms. The first is a single line of balls suspended above the pitching machine that releases balls. This release is either by some type of interval or timing or by activation by a player or user of the pitching machine. These lines of balls may have a bend, or turn, or can alternately be formed into a spiral, in order to reduce the overall size of that automatic feeder.
Other prior art automatic ball feeders have large containers, or hoppers, where all of the balls to be fed into the pitching machine are kept. These and other vertical storage ball hoppers, or bins, have disadvantages due to the friction caused by the weight of the balls when those bins are full. The balls on the middle and top layers in those bins will press down and cause large amounts of friction to the balls on the bottom of those bins. The balls on the bottom are typically in the location that the balls are actually pulled from in order to feed the machine. With this additional friction, jams and stoppages in the ball feed are common, resulting in no balls being sent to, and pitched by, the pitching machine connected to the automatic feeder. These jams and delays and lags in pitching can cause frustration with the players trying to improve their skills, coaches and players operating the equipment, and observers. Additionally, the jams have a potential for injury if and when the balls become dislodged and break free from their jam—possibly sending multiple balls to and then out of the pitching machine at approximately the same time. Additionally, the safety concern arises when a user or a coach attempts to unjam those automatic feeders.
What is needed then is an improved game ball feeder for delivering balls to a game ball throwing machine. This improved game ball feeder preferably has multiple ball capacity and is designed to avoid jams and restricted ball flow that is prevalent in prior art ball feeding machine. This needed game ball feeder is lacking in the art.